Improved burial-case



` panying drawings,

of the square tube,

NITE-D sims f FRANZ VESTER, OF NEWARK, NW JERSEY.

iiviPRovED BURIAL-CASE.

Specification forming part of Letters Pateiit No. B 1,437, dated August 25, 1868.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ VESTER, of Newark, in the county of4 Essex, and State of New Jersey, have -invented a new and useful Improvement in Burial-Cases or Coflins for the dead; and do hereby 'declare that the following is a full, clear, and'exact description o f the same, reference being had to the accommaking part of this specilicatioii, of which- Y Figure 1 is a top view; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, an under side view of the lid;

and Fig. 4, a longitudinal and vertical section.

. The nature ofl t'his invention consists in placing on the lid of the coin, and directly over the face of the body laid therein, asquare tube, which extends from the coiu up through" and over the. surface of the grave, said tube containinga ladder and a cord, one end of said cord being placed -in the hand of the person laid in the coin, and the other end of said cord being' attached to a bell on the top so that, should a person bc interred ere life'. is extinct, he can, on reco very to consciousness, ascend from the grave and the coiii by the ladder; or, if not able to ascend by said ladder, ring the bell, thereby giving an alarm, and thus save himself from premature burial and death; and if, ou in-v 'spection, life is extinct, the tube is withdrawn,

the sliding door closed, and thetube usedl for a similar purpose. y

In the said drawings, A denotes the bodyof the coiin; B, the lid. O represents a square tube, wliichis seated in a square base. D, at tachcd tothe lid of the coiiuand Ahold. in place by a spriiig-bar, E, connected with -tlie sliding glass door L. This s nare tube C extends from the lid of the co n to and -nho-,vo the surface of f the grave, and has air-inlet openings F F, which communicate with the bod y of the c olin, and has also a glassI door,

G, on its top, which may be easily raised or seen through,'for inspection of the personA laid 'in the cofIin.

' face, he can do so by means of '.l.he said tube contains a ladder, H, by which the person laid in the coiin may, on returning life, ascend to the surface of the earth; and the said tube has near its top a bell, I, from which a cord, K, is suspended, thelower end of said cord being placed in the hand of the person laid in the coiiin, as shown in the drawings. On the iiiside of the c'oin-lid is a sliding' glass door, L,

- actuated by a spring, M, which closes the cof- Iin, excluding theair when the tube C iswith'- drawn from the cfin.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The supposed corpse being laid in the body A of the coilin, and the cord K placed in the hand of the corpse, the cord is next drawn through the tube C and attached to the bell I, and the tube C placed in the base D, on the The cofln is now lowered into the grave, and the grave filled up to the air-inlets FF. Now, should the person laid Ain the coffin, on returning life, desire to aseend from the coffin and the grave to the surbut, if too weak to ascend by the ladder, he c'anv .pull the cord in his hand, and ring the bell I, giving the desired alarm for help, and thus save himself `from premature death ,by being buried alive. Should life be extinct thetube C is removed, the door L closed, and the tube used for a similar purpose.

Having described my invention, what I Y claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is A 1. The application of the tube O and ladder H to a burial-case or cofln, substantially asand for the purposes described and set forth. 2. In combination with the tube C and ladder H, the cord K and bell I,.for the purposes l substantially as set -forth'and described.

, In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set my signature this 9th vday of July 1868.

,e i vFRANZ ESTER.

Witnesses; f A

A.NE1LL,

R. SANGMEISTER.

vn'inn'r Frites. 1

theladder H 

